Vikram Akula

Vikram Akula has worked to improve the lives of India's indigent population for much of his life. As the founder and chairman emeritus of SKS Microfinance Ltd., Dr. Akula and his company extended micro-credit to millions of women across India, enabling them to purchase livestock, establish small businesses, and ultimately provide for themselves and their families. Although Dr. Akula launched SKS (Swayam Krishi Sangam or “self-help society”) as a nonprofit group, he developed the organization with the intention of converting it into a for-profit venture, recognizing that a nonprofit model would not allow SKS to grow to the scale necessary to help the tens of millions in India in need of microfinance services.

Vikram Akula established SKS after years of advocating for women in need in India, starting as a community organizer for Deccan Development Society in 1990. He then worked on behalf of the underserved in a more general sense as a researcher at the World Watch Institute.